November 28, 2017 – Madelaine Drohan

The aid pipeline that stretches from donors to victims of crisis and disaster has sprung multiple leaks. Yet few governments, with the notable exception of the US, are trying very hard to find out how much is lost to fraud between donor and victim. Each party in the process has a reason for avoiding publicity: humanitarian organizations do not want to scare off donors; governments do not want to admit taxpayers’ funds have gone astray; victims rarely have a voice; and fraudsters are more than happy to avoid the spotlight.

October 31, 2017 – Paul Robinson

NATO was created in order to defend Europe from the threat of the Soviet Union. That threat has long since disappeared, but NATO still exists, and has substantially expanded both its membership and its vision of its role to include so-called ‘out of area operations.’ But it is unclear what benefits either Europe or North America have gained from this expansion. In this talk, Professor Robinson will examine the arguments for and against NATO’s continued existence, and will challenge whether the organization continues to serve a useful purpose.

June 19, 2017 – Akaash Maharaj

Every year, corruption kills 140,000 children worldwide, by depriving them of medical care, food, and water. Yet, far too often, the perpetrators of the most outrageous acts of corruption are able to use their illicit wealth and power to pervert the very laws and institutions that should call them to account. As a result, the worst offenders are the least likely to face domestic justice.

May 30, 2017 – Maude Barlow

Maude will not only outline the threat of agreement like NAFTA and CETA to water but will put forward a way to protect water in trade deals. Maude Barlow is the National Chairperson of the Council of Canadians and chairs the board of Washington-based Food and Water Watch. She serves on the executive of the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature and is a Councillor with the Hamburg-based World Future Council.

April 25, 2017 – Michael Rostek

Recently the international security environment has been marked by increasing uncertainty, volatility and rapid change. Threats of regional conflict, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, dangers posed by insurgency and trans-national terrorism, state failure and international organized crime, natural disasters and the impacts of climate change–all grow ever more prominent. And prospects for “cyber-warfare” are on the rise. Attempts to understand and anticipate future challenges are essential for effective security planning.

This talk will explore the trends toward a better coordinated and more collaborative manner in which complex security challenges are addressed giving rise to what is termed “the comprehensive approach.”

March 28, 2017 – Angella MacEwen

Automation and globalization have both played a role in the hollowing out of manufacturing and male middle class jobs in most OECD nations. The IMF and other neoliberal thought leaders have recently acknowledged that governments have not done enough to compensate those who have lost out from trade deals. But the public imagination has been more captured by the prospect of automation eliminating even more jobs.

We’ll explore the question, what role has automation and trade deals played in increasing labour market and income inequality in Canada? What does this mean for the future of work, and policy implications for addressing inequality in Canada and globally?

February 28, 2017 – Rolf Holmboe

Approaching its sixth year, the Syria War has evolved from a brutal repression of an uprising to an even worse sectarian bloodletting and extremist anarchy. The gut reaction of the West has been not to get involved, allowing Assad and his Russian, Iranian and Hezbollah allies to continue unimpeded the “Siege, Starve and Shell” tactics aimed at the civilian population in the rebel held areas.

Skillfully usurping ungoverned spaces in Syria and Iraq, ISIS has emerged as arguably the most extreme of all extremist movements in the Middle East. It has attracted at its height as many as two thousand foreign recruits each month.

Where does this leave Syria after the defeat of the moderate rebels in Aleppo in December 2016 and the impending defeat of ISIS in Raqqah and Mosul? What happens to the challenge of ISIS and extremism? And how will the transfer of power in the US to President Trump affect Western policies? The talk will explore these questions, along with emerging perspectives for peace, and elements necessary for a sustainable political solution.

January 31st, 2017 – Dan Ciuriak

Economic history since the industrial revolution has not been a story of gradual evolution. Rather it has punctuated by disruptive changes that ushered in new episodes. The current episode is being ushered out; what will replace it? The sources of the disruption can be traced by the various economic indicators that literally went off the charts: nominal interest rates broke the “zero bound” going into negative territory; financialization, income inequality, and the structural bias against labour and “good jobs” soared. Economic systems face economic constraints: the balance of payments must balance; savings must equal investment. But they also (eventually) face other constraints: economic outcomes must fall within tenable social, political and environmental bounds, or disruption follows. The system that is to come will respond to the pressures that brought down Globalization V2. Can we glimpse at this future?

Since its origins in 1981, the Group of 78 has promoted dialogue about a progressive Canadian foreign policy, based on the principles of sustainable PEACE through common security, JUSTICE in prosperity, equity, inclusion with diversity, and SURVIVAL of our planet in the face of modern human activity.